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This is getting more positive feedback than I would have expected... I'm pretty happy with my Xtreamer Pro, which you can load with two 2TB drives for about $420... So 2x the price for 4x the storage, plus it will play BR.ISO, bitstream, and USB and eSATA slave. Only things I'm envying are the GbE and Netflix support...

This is getting more positive feedback than I would have expected... I'm pretty happy with my Xtreamer Pro, which you can load with two 2TB drives for about $420... So 2x the price for 4x the storage, plus it will play BR.ISO, bitstream, and USB and eSATA slave. Only things I'm envying are the GbE and Netflix support...

Another use I foresee for the Live Hub is an entertainment-center-on-the-go for travelers. The unit with the 2.5" 1TB drive is quite light (550g only). The Xtreamer Pro with 2 2TB hard drives (3.5") must be pretty heavy compared to that.

Another use I foresee for the Live Hub is an entertainment-center-on-the-go for travelers. The unit with the 2.5" 1TB drive is quite light (550g only). The Xtreamer Pro with 2 2TB hard drives (3.5") must be pretty heavy compared to that.

Good point, I suppose the regular Xtreamer would be a more direct comparison, though it only fits 9.5mm thick drives, which would exclude the TB drives for now...

Does the Hub display anything else besides the coverart from themoviedb such as fanart and synopsis? Will it also read metadata scraped by third party programs such as Yammm, mediacenter master, or my movies and display all the above? Thank you.

No it won't read third party metadata, but the Metadata is in XML, so if you want, you can EDIT the metadata database any way you want and put whatever info you want (as long as it fits in the pre-defined tags and structure.)

No it won't read third party metadata, but the Metadata is in XML, so if you want, you can EDIT the metadata database any way you want and put whatever info you want (as long as it fits in the pre-defined tags and structure.)

Could you post a pic of how the movie info and cover art are presented.

Why not just get it at bestbuy. Ive bought and returned a bunch of things from them without a problem.

Sales Tax for one also, Amazon tends to be cheaper than BB most of the time. BB is not known for the best CC, you may be lucky, but there are many out there (I include myself) that will only browse and never buy if they dont have to at a BB.

The wording on all the advertisements seem odd. So you can play files from the internal drive, and copy files to the internal drive from an external one...but it cant play files from the external drives? I think I'm confused. I'm thinking of upgrading my wdtv live, but I'm running out of space on my 1tb external already. So it would be nice to have a combines 2tb of usable storage.

mmm you do realize this has a 1TB drive inside right? That drive (1TB Scorpio Blue) by itself sells for $120.

Keep dreaming.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HorrorJ616

The wording on all the advertisements seem odd. So you can play files from the internal drive, and copy files to the internal drive from an external one...but it cant play files from the external drives? I think I'm confused. I'm thinking of upgrading my wdtv live, but I'm running out of space on my 1tb external already. So it would be nice to have a combines 2tb of usable storage.

Of course you can play from external drives either through the network or plugged in directly through USB

I read through the pages but I didn't find any answer. I hope someone can help me

I discovered today that WD sells this new machine. I am thinking about buying one for home media server purposes. I'd like to use it to stream music and family pictures in the house to multiple computers.

Is it possible with this machine? Can I stream any kind of file types, or only the ones listed in the specifications? (I'm not talking about playing them, for example Apple Lossless, because I know that this machine doesn't support this format, but is it possible to stream it to a computer and play it with for example itunes?)

Am I right that this WD machine still DOES NOT support dvd or bd ISO files??? So it doesnt display menus, or in case of tv series dvds, where many episodes stored in one ISO file, it only plays the biggest one??
(If it is true then I really don't understand, that if a company supports all of the illegal formats, from divx to mkv, all of the formats illegaly downloaded from the internet, why not support the ISO format for those who'd like to put their dvd collection to hard drives??????? I don't want WD to not to include the illegal formats, but I wan't them to support the "legal" format for dvd/bd collection archiving)

I read through the pages but I didn't find any answer. I hope someone can help me

I discovered today that WD sells this new machine. I am thinking about buying one for home media server purposes. I'd like to use it to stream music and family pictures in the house to multiple computers.

Is it possible with this machine? Can I stream any kind of file types, or only the ones listed in the specifications? (I'm not talking about playing them, for example Apple Lossless, because I know that this machine doesn't support this format, but is it possible to stream it to a computer and play it with for example itunes?)

Am I right that this WD machine still DOES NOT support dvd or bd ISO files??? So it doesnt display menus, or in case of tv series dvds, where many episodes stored in one ISO file, it only plays the biggest one??
(If it is true then I really don't understand, that if a company supports all of the illegal formats, from divx to mkv, all of the formats illegaly downloaded from the internet, why not support the ISO format for those who'd like to put their dvd collection to hard drives??????? I don't want WD to not to include the illegal formats, but I wan't them to support the "legal" format for dvd/bd collection archiving)

Thanks for your answers!

This WDTV Live Hub uses a Sigma Designs 8654 Chipset and these are the things you must know about it:

1. Will not support RMVB/RMB files
2. It has Macrovision - which may prevent proper playback of "backed up" DVD collections and DVD ISO media files, some MKV files
3. Does not support or playback BD ISO.

sgvroadster:
thanks for your answer! What you say is sad.... These just support the fact that WD does not support those who have large origina dvd collections and would like to make it to a digital library, but only supports those who download... its a shame...

However, if I'd like to just use this machine to serve music, photos via my home network, is it going to work? So can it run 24/7, or does it wake up for network access? Can I store my music collection on it and listen to music on my computers Itunes?

There's a lot of incorrect or just false info being presented here as "Fact." Be careful who you listen to.

The WDTV Hub DOES support Native DVD playback, complete with all DVD navigation and menus from ISO or VIDEO_TS folder structure just fine. My collection of 350 DVD ISOs is quite playable.

Can't comment on BD ISO support (other than that Menus are DEFINATELY not supported. But that doesn't necessarily mean an ISO won't play. An ISO is just a collection of files.)

WD's press release says this is (at least initially) a Best Buy Exclusive. So, if you're waiting for Amazon to carry it, you may be waiting months (or never.)

The Media "Streamer" inside Hub version 2.02.16 is based on Twonky version 5.1.9. If TWONKY supports a file, it will stream it, regardless of if the Hub can PLAY it itself. Be advised though that with this version of Twonky, TRANSCODING is DISABLED.

It will only stream media that is on the local storage (or USB, I believe.) It cannot act as a gateway to NETWORK storage.

The fact that the Hub supports Macrovision has absolutely NO BEARING on DVD playback. In fact, the only reason that WOULD cause an issue is if your downstream display did NOT support Macrovision. At any rate, most DVD Rippers disable the Macrovision Bit anyway, so it's moot. And I've never heard of a Macro-vision protected MKV file, so don't know what that's about.

Macrovision is only ONE form of DRM this box supports (it's the Sigma that does a lot of it) to protect premium content like NetFlix, Blockbuster, etc. The Live+ has the exact same DRM architecture.

>>>>>> There are 1 TB based media player/streamers in market around $129.

Not with this form factor. If form factor isn't important, then there ya go.

I ran into a You Tube issue. Some of the clips come up with a screen that says that it cannot play the clip into a TV set. Never seen that one before! Checked with a friend that is test driving a Logitech Google box and the same clips play fine on it. Not an issue playing the clips from my Tivo box either. I'm considering returning the WD if this is going to be an issue.

Sales Tax for one also, Amazon tends to be cheaper than BB most of the time. BB is not known for the best CC, you may be lucky, but there are many out there (I include myself) that will only browse and never buy if they dont have to at a BB.

I got mine from WD. No sales tax and free shipping. UPS says it will arrive on Nov. 2.

I agree with csrini on this, $149 for this unit is the max I will pay and definitely Amazon is the way to shop.

There are 1 TB based media player/streamers in market around $129. Adding up prices of 1 TB WD HD and Live Plus is not what we would like to pay for just bundling the two things in one.

please point out a good 1TB based media player that sells for 130.. seriously I'm interested.

there's the Iomega screenplay which doesn't even do 1080p and has terrible file support for $130. The Iomega screenplay director is slightly better, it's $160 and has 1080p, but it still has terrible file support and doesn't have netflix. There's the Seagate freeagent+ theater which is $80 plus a 1tb Go drive is $110. so that's $190. You'll save $10. I was thinking of getting this one actually, but it has a crappy UI and terrible remote. Plus I hear that the dock can break easily and the Go drives have a high failure rate, and I really don't want to plug in via USB.

I think the Hub is definitely worth it compared to what's out right now at this price range.

WD's press release says this is (at least initially) a Best Buy Exclusive. So, if you're waiting for Amazon to carry it, you may be waiting months (or never.)

Thanks for pointing this out. I'm amazed at how stupid WD is. Amazon is huge, and many people don't want to deal with Best Buy. I'm also hesitant about ordering this directly from WD. I just really would rather stick with Amazon if I ever need a replacement or refund.

Quote:

It will only stream media that is on the local storage (or USB, I believe.) It cannot act as a gateway to NETWORK storage.

My live will play the main movie from a BD ISO file just fine, just doesn't do the menus and things so I don't see why the hub wont at least play the main movie from a BD ISO as well.
I have played with the DVD menu support that the betas added for DVD ISO's and it was great, just like using the original disk, wish BD had that.
For what I paid for my live I've been thrilled with it, even with the networking issues and no menu support, even more now that I use B-rads firmware. I'm sure he will work his magic with the hub as well seeing how it's basically a super live plus with a drive built in.